|
Books by
Barack
Obama
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
/
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the
American Dream
* *
* * *
Obama Declares Victory
Barack Obama
Delivers First Speech as Presumptive Democratic Nominee
Tonight, after fifty-four
hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally
come to an end.
Sixteen months have
passed since we first stood together on the steps of the
Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of
miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been
heard. And because of what you said . . . because
you decided that change must come to Washington; because
you believed that this year must be different than all
the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts
or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest
aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic
journey with the beginning of another . . . a journey
that will bring a new and better day to America.
Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be
the Democratic nominee for President of the United
States.
I want to thank
every American who stood with us over the course of this
campaign . . . through the good days and the bad;
from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux
Falls. And tonight I also want to thank the men and
woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates
for President.
At this defining
moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party
put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of
individuals ever to run for this office. I have not just
competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them
as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love
America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this
country better. They are leaders of this party, and
leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
That is
particularly true for the candidate who has traveled
further on this journey than anyone else. Senator
Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not
just because she's a woman who has done what no woman
has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires
millions of Americans with her strength, her courage,
and her commitment to the causes that brought us here
tonight.
We've certainly had
our differences over the last sixteen months. But as
someone who's shared a stage with her many times, I can
tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the
morning even in the face of tough odds . . . is
exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for
their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what
sent her to work at the Children's Defense Fund and made
her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to
the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking
campaign for the presidency . . . an unyielding
desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no
matter how difficult the fight may be. And you can rest
assured that when we finally win the battle for
universal health care in this country, she will be
central to that victory. When we transform our energy
policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be
because she worked to help make it happen. Our party and
our country are better off because of her, and I am a
better candidate for having had the honor to compete
with Hillary Rodham Clinton.
There are those who
say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and
more divided. Well I say that because of this primary,
there are millions of Americans who have cast their
ballot for the very first time. There are Independents
and Republicans who understand that this election isn't
just about the party in charge of Washington, it's about
the need to change Washington. There are young people,
and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all
ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records
and inspired a nation.
All of you chose to
support a candidate you believe in deeply. But at the
end of the day, we aren't the reason you came out and
waited in lines that stretched block after block to make
your voice heard. You didn't do that because of me or
Senator Clinton or anyone else. You did it because you
know in your hearts that at this moment . . . a
moment that will define a generation . . . we
cannot afford to keep doing what we've been doing. We
owe our children a better future. We owe our country a
better future. And for all those who dream of that
future tonight, I say let us begin the work together.
Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for
America.
In just a few short
months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul
with a very different agenda. They will come here to
nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country
heroically. I honor that service, and I respect his many
accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine. My
differences with him are not personal; they are with the
policies he has proposed in this campaign.
|
Because while John
McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence
from his party in the past, such independence has not
been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.
It's not change
when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush
ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate
last year.
It's not change
when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies
that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure
our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing
cost of college . . . policies that have lowered
the real incomes of the average American family, widened
the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left
our children with a mountain of debt.
And it's not change
when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks
everything of our brave men and women in uniform and
nothing of Iraqi politicians . . . a policy where
all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we
spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn't
making the American people any safer.
|
 |
So I'll say this .
. . there are many words to describe John McCain's
attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's
policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of
them.
Change is a foreign
policy that doesn't begin and end with a war that
should've never been authorized and never been waged. I
won't stand here and pretend that there are many good
options left in Iraq, but what's not an option is
leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred
years . . . especially at a time when our military is
overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every
other threat to America is being ignored.
We must be as
careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting
in - but start leaving we must. It's time for Iraqis to
take responsibility for their future. It's time to
rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they
need and the benefits they deserve when they come home.
It's time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda's
leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against
the common threats of the 21st century . . . terrorism
and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty;
genocide and disease. That's what change is.
Change is realizing
that meeting today's threats requires not just our
firepower, but the power of our diplomacy . . .
tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the
United States isn't afraid to let any petty dictator
know where America stands and what we stand for. We must
once again have the courage and conviction to lead the
free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman,
and Kennedy. That's what the American people want.
That's what change is.
Change is building
an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work
and workers who created it. It's understanding that the
struggles facing working families can't be solved by
spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big
corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the
middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling
infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and
improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to
science and innovation. It's understanding that fiscal
responsibility and shared prosperity can go
hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was
President.
John McCain has
spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the
last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking
trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit
by this economy . . . cities in Michigan, and
Ohio, and right here in Minnesota he'd understand the
kind of change that people are looking for.
Maybe if he went to
Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after
a full day of class and still can't pay the medical
bills for a sister who's ill, he'd understand that she
can't afford four more years of a health care plan that
only takes care of the healthy and wealthy. She needs us
to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to
every American who wants it and brings down premiums for
every family who needs it. That's the change we need.
Maybe if he went to
Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can't
even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new
one, he'd understand that we can't afford four more
years of our addiction to oil from dictators. That man
needs us to pass an energy policy that works with
automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes
corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies
invest their record profits in a clean energy future . .
. an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs
that pay well and can't be outsourced. That's the change
we need.
And maybe if he
spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St.
Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he'd
understand that we can't afford to leave the money
behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our
children to invest in early childhood education; to
recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay
and more support; to finally decide that in this global
economy, the chance to get a college education should
not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the
birthright of every American. That's the change we need
in America. That's why I'm running for President.
 |
The other side will
come here in September and offer a very different set of
policies and positions, and that is a debate I look
forward to. It is a debate the American people deserve.
But what you don't deserve is another election that's
governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you
won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind
of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and
patriotism as a bludgeon . . . that sees our
opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies
to demonize. Because we may call ourselves Democrats and
Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always
Americans first.
Despite what the good
Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have
seen people of differing views and opinions
find common cause many times during my two
decades in public life, and I have brought
many together myself. |
I've walked
arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of
Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and
Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools.
I've sat across the table from law enforcement and civil
rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system
that sent thirteen innocent people to death row. And
I've worked with friends in the other party to provide
more children with health insurance and more working
families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear
weapons and ensure that the American people know where
their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the
influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the
agenda in Washington.
In our country, I
have found that this cooperation happens not because we
agree on everything, but because behind all the labels
and false divisions and categories that define us;
beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in
Washington, Americans are a decent, generous,
compassionate people, united by common challenges and
common hopes. And every so often, there are moments
which call on that fundamental goodness to make this
country great again.
So it was for that
band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the
formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who
gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last
full measure of devotion to save that same union.
So it was for the
Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and
liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this
country home to untold opportunity and prosperity.
So it was for the
workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who
shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a
Selma bridge for freedom's cause.
So it has been for
every generation that faced down the greatest challenges
and the most improbable odds to leave their children a
world that's better, and kinder, and more just.
And so it must be
for us.
America, this is
our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page
on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new
energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time
to offer a new direction for the country we love.
The journey will be
difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge
with profound humility, and knowledge of my own
limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in
the capacity of the American people. Because if we are
willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in
it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from
now, we will be able to look back and tell our children
that this was the moment when we began to provide care
for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the
moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our
planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended
a war and secured our nation and restored our image as
the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment
. . . this
was the time when we came together to remake this
great nation so that it may always reflect our very best
selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless
you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
June 3, 2008 / Saint Paul,
Minnesota —
* *
* * *
Responses
I am uncertain what can be done
about the lack of graciousness by the Clintons. Now she
wants to pressure Obama to make her his VP running mate
and it's said that a petition is being started and that
she wants to take the fight to Denver.
Stay strong Obama. Don't let her bully you. Be cool. Let
the fools look around and discover they been
beaten. Offer her something but never the VP spot—Rudy
* *
* * *
GOOD ADVICE RUDY.
A SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENT PROMISE MIGHT HOLD THEM OFF,
EXCEPT FOR THE FOLLOWING!
HILLARY ON ROWE V. WADE, NO PROBLEM
HILLARY ON BIG BUSINESS, COULD BE A
PROBLEM—WILSON
* *
* * *
Dear Rudy,
Congratulations for this historic
victory. We are all proud of all of you! This victory
reminds me that I will never know what is possible if I
don't venture forth! We in Kenya are proud.—Betty
* *
* * *
Second
Thoughts—Making Hillary VP would be an absolute
guarantee that Obama would never be assassinated by
anyone on the right!—Wilson
* *
* * *
I will put forth no
more pretensions or threats about not voting for Obama.
It does not make any difference to me whether he chooses
a rabid dog for his VP. I will vote for Obama for
President in November. It will not be because I agree
with his rather conservative domestic and foreign
platforms. Or his stance in support of Israel against
the Palestinians or any of his other disagreeable
policies and commitments.
I am not ashamed of my intent and I have no apologies.
It is a one time experience and I wish tomorrow I could
vote for Obama. For I do not want to miss it. I wish I
could write in now. I am afraid this will be the first
and only time I will have to vote for an African
American for President.
It has been a long time coming. This is a historical
moment for me. I have been denied because of American
racism this opportunity and I do not want to miss out on
it.
My only fear is that I will not live to have the
opportunity to vote for Obama. If HRC is on the ticket
so be it. Obama you got my vote come hell or high water—Rudy
* *
* * *
Rudy, I am ecstatic
about Obama's victory and have no patience with
naysayers because I just want to enjoy this moment—for
our race, for our country, for our world.
I disagree
completely with Wilson: the way to assure Obama's
assassination is to make Hillary his VP. The fatal blow
wouldn't come from the right or the left, but from
inside the White House.—Miriam
* *
* * *
She says it’s hers
and that she has earned it. Her camp says she's
confident Obama will do the right thing and announce her
soon as his running mate. Others are saying that she
aims to run the nation as vice president, overshadowing
President Obama when and wherever possible, making him a
lame duck from Day One. He may have the title, but she
means to have the power and respect of the U.S.
president. She wants to drive him out of office early
on in his first term, if he wins, so that she can take
over. Some of this was in commentary on MSNBC. And
some come from her supporters in Fla. (Don't speculate
about other methods she may use to oust him from the top
spot while she's vice president.)—Stuart
* *
* * *
I like Richards as
a possibility, Edwards wouldn't hurt and Clarke would
shut up the warhawks. Uncle Remus' great niece Hillary
would best serve in the Senate where she can help push
things through or as a cabinet member (Health would be a
good place for her). I would keep Bill at a distance
and, when he's around, follow that advice about having a
food taster (and doctor with a stomach pump nearby).—Chuck
* *
* * *
Dear Rudy, Hope
things are going okay. I know you have been going
through a lot. Congratulations on your insights! I am
delighted to see that you predicted the actions of the
Democratic party leadership. Charlie Rangell apparently
became truly angry, and as the Tamany Hall boss who got
her to the Senate in the first place, he played a roll
in telling her when to stand down.—Wilson
* *
* * *
Whoopi Goldberg—Hillary Speech Pissed Me Off
* *
* * *
Coda for the Clintons—Crank up your iPods,
everyone. Herewith, a musical guide to the endgame of
the epic contest for the Democratic nomination:
Begin with "No
More Drama"by Mary J. Blige. The hip-hop diva was
singing about personal struggles, but her show-stopping
anthem couldn't be more relevant to the nomination
battle. . . . All right, now let's cue up an old
standard: "It's
Only a Paper Moon," recorded by Nat King Cole, Ella
Fitzgerald and almost every other great singer in the
history of jazz. "But it wouldn't be make-believe if you
believed in me," goes the lyric— an apt comment on the
"popular vote" tally. . . . Finally, let's revisit an
'80s classic that helped launch the music video
era: Robert Palmer's "Addicted
to Love." I'm talking about the Clintons here,
mostly Bill -- and no, I don't mean that kind of love.
I'm talking about the kind of love that comes from being
at center stage—the cheers, the adoration, the curtain
calls. Since 1992, the Clintons have owned the
Democratic Party. The fact that they didn't get all they
wanted from the rules committee on Saturday is proof
that the party has changed hands. . . . A
new Vanity Fair story asking what's wrong with Bill
Clinton is the sort of thing that once would have just
rolled off his back. Instead, his office issued a
lengthy, detailed, persnickety rebuttal—despite the fact
that there wasn't much to rebut, except the concerned
observations of unnamed friends and associates who worry
about his emotional state. I'd suggest he listen to a
little contemporary gospel— some
Kirk Franklin, maybe, or
Yolanda Adams but I don't want to make him madder.
Washington Post
* *
* * *
Rudy, I sent this
message to Washington Post editor Eugene Robinson in
response to his column, entitled "Coda
for the Clintons," and which appeared in yesterday's
paper. Sure enough, the Clintons have not exited yet
from the campaign with the "equanimity and grace" that
Robinson predicted.—Floyd:
Dear Mr. Robinson:
I continue to be
impressed with your columns, especially the recent ones
about the Obama-Clinton campaign for the Democratic
presidential nomination. You can hit the Clintons
hard—I think they have deserved such treatment—and you
can be somewhat gentle, as in today's piece. And you
know how skillfully to infuse black references in your
writing; from Mary J to Kirk Franklin is marvelous! I
really value your skill and perspective. Today's piece
is just outstanding in this regard.
Now, I am not as
confident as you in thinking that the Clintons will exit
from this long campaign in the manner that you seem to
expect. Indeed, to connect "equanimity and grace" with
the Clintons--and in the same sentence—stretches
my sense of believability.
Sincerely,
Floyd Hayes,
III
* *
* * *
Death of a
Saleswoman—How Hillary Clinton lost me—and a generation
of young voters.—As he goes forward, Obama will
undoubtedly be compared to Abraham Lincoln. But I always
thought Whitman was a more apt predecessor for both
candidates. Whitman embodied the ecstatic to which
Hillary Clinton, at one time, linked her hopes for a
better America. But she didn't make it part of her
campaign. Instead, she made fun of Obama's knack for
lighting a fire in the hearts of a wide swath of
Americans. She preached pragmatism instead of
fellow-feeling. And she scolded Obama for being
starry-eyed. But her decision to turn away from the
ecstatic was a great mistake, as Whitman might have
understood. By stripping her campaign of its native
appeal, by refusing to portray herself as part of a
transcendent feminist narrative, by diluting the dynamic
pleasures of mass political response, she let us down.
After all, feminism need not be joyless.
Slate
* *
* * *
I do not believe that he will offer
her the VP spot, a job just a heartbeat away from the
presidency. She has proven herself hostile and
untrustworthy. She doesn't even like or respect him! The
world has witnessed her hostility as this upstart of a
black man took her birthright away. Who needs a VP like
that ? Besides, some of his critics have said that he is
not tough enough. So, to me it stands to reason that he
will show just how tough he really is, and not bend to
the petitions or to her ego-driven plea for the job.—Sandra
* *
* * *
Nobody other than the Hillary
die-hards think Obama should offer Clinton the VP spot.
Such a move would be interpreted as weakness. Besides
who wants the Clintons hanging around for another four
to eight years?
I don't think Obama has any chance
of winning in November, now that the American casualty
rate in Iraq has declined. Most of the current deaths
are Iraqis and few Americans have ever cared about Iraqi
casualties. Even to mention Iraqi casualties is seen,
by some, as unpatriotic. Bush has just initiated a
well-timed trial of the 9/11 terrorists, which should
satisfy the populace, as well. As for the economy, the
fat cats will manage to get the price of gas down to
$3.50 by election week, so that will satisfy everybody.
In other words Hillary's "good hard-working people,"
will ignore the war and the economy; clinging to their
guns and their Bibles, they will, without bitterness of
course, simply vote anti-Black. This presumes,
optimistically, that Barack will still be alive in
November.
Hillary will continue to hover like
a vulture, hoping for a repeat of the 1968 Kennedy
assassination.—Wilson
* *
* * *
In years to come after the coals of
our struggles for Obama have died down, we will pity
Hillary Clinton and her squandering of her chance to
rise to greatness and pull women up with her. We will
wonder why she chose an old-fashioned manliness and race
as a means to rise to the presidency, alienating those
who wanted so much her success—blacks, young women, and
feminists, and other women; Hispanics. It is regrettable
that she had no new vision for the 21st century. We wish
her well as she returns to her work in the U.S. Senate.—Rudy
* *
* * *
So well put Rudy!—Mona Lisa
* *
* * *
Hi, Rudy, Thanks for all the
political news. I've read a good bit—not all. I would
have been satisfied with either candidate, but Hillary
did get shrill and spoiled her chances. Obama is great
for my grandsons, but I also have a granddaughter.—Lee
* *
* * *
Let Obama be Spock; Let Hillary be
Kirk. Now this will be too complicated for some people,
because it involves a reversed metaphor. Everyone knows
that Spock ran the Starship Enterprise; it was not Kirk.
Let Hillary be Kirk and Obama be Spock. Spock deals with
the logic and allows Hillary to grab the headlines.
Spock/Obama allows Hillary to grab the glory, while he
does all the thinking. Sounds like a possibility.—Wilson
* *
* * *
I think, Rudy, that
there will be many articles and books written to analyze
the reasons for Clinton's loss, for, indeed, she threw
away the prize. She had everything in her favor--the
backing of the Democratic machine, experience in
politics, a huge war chest, political connections, and
the support of a former president--but she threw it all
away because of a lack of vision, ego-tripping,
mismanagement, lies, race-baiting, an inept staff,
overzealousness, and so on.
But I shall never,
as long as I live, pity her and, really, she has too
much hubris to want our pity. She has never cast herself
as a victim and doesn't even know how to play that role.—Miriam
* *
* * *
posted 4 June 2008 |
